Involved in her family's mixed farming operation at Coonabarabran, Emily Read says she looks forward to amping up the marketing and profile of their stud following her involvement in the 2022 GenAngus Future Leaders Program.
Along with her parents, Ambrose and Lisa Doolan, Mrs Read is involved in the Isla Angus stud which last year held its inaugural bull sale which reached a $14,500 top and $8732 average.
However the stud is just a component of their larger self-replacing commercial operation. All up they run over 1000 breeders of which 100 head are stud cows.
"We breed our own bulls, and that is how it started - it is a great way to tailor and create what you want," she said. "Last year we thought why not branch out to the public. We have about 30 registered bulls to sell this year."
They focus on net feed intake and eating quality when selecting cattle, looking at good marbling and eye muscle figures. The market dictates how steer progeny is sold.
"Often we would sell to feedlots but the last couple of years, given the market, we have sold them a lot younger through AuctionsPlus," she said.
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The stud was established in 2004 with the purchase of females from Millah Murrah. They use both artificial insemination and natural service to create sires to be used within their own herd and marketed.
Holding their first bull sale is what got Mrs Read interested in the GenAngus program.
"So much goes into the marketing side of things, it's not just hold a sale and they will come," she said. "I wanted to try and create a role for myself helping with that [marketing]."
Mrs Read along with her husband Joe recently purchased a property next to her parents and they are currently building their own herd of commercial cows.
"The goal for the future is to have the stud side grow and keep the commercial herd ticking along nicely, always improving the cows kept and growing bull numbers," she said.
The GenAngus initiative was the first course of its kind that Mrs Read had taken part in, and she said it was good to get out of her comfort zone.
"It is quite amazing they [Angus Australia and Achmea Australia] were able to get a number of big names together, for example Angus Street CEO of AuctionsPlus, Isobel Knight from Proagtive, and Simon Quilty from Global Agritrends," she said.
"It was inspiring to have those big names there and presenting on things we could action when we went home - there was a lot of practical information to help in business. I would encourage people to consider the GenAngus program. It is good to be in a room with industry leaders, network and ask them questions."
